First of Many More(a McRoll in the REAL World story)
by sammy1026
Summary: It's a big night for Grace as she goes on her first date.


_Mari & Ilna- you guys are the absolute best. Thanks for EVERYTHING! There are no two people I'd rather be on this ride with._

 _Sandy-what would I do without you?_

 _REAL Worlders-I can never fully express what all your amazing support means to me. All I can say is that in our fourth calendar year your support and encouragement keeps me as enthusiastic as I was about this project day one._

* * *

 **First of Many (1/1)**

Grace stood in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom and smoothed down the front of her dark purple skirt. She cast a quick glance at several other options currently tossed haphazardly on the bottom of her bed then addressed the other three people in the room confidently, "I think this is the one."

"It's perfect," Catherine agreed from her seat on the bed.

Gabby smiled. "That's the one I was hoping you'd pick."

Rachel crossed the room and stood beside her daughter. Her eyes grew damp as she looked in the mirror at the reflection of the two of them side by side. "You look beautiful, my darling. Absolutely beautiful."

Grace beamed with happiness that her choice met with the approval of the three women whose opinions were so important to her. "Thanks."

"I promised myself I wasn't going to cry." Rachel cleared her throat and swiped at her eyes. "But my baby is going on her first date. It seems like just yesterday I was bouncing you on my knee and now you're dating."

Grace wrapped her arms around Rachel in a tight hug. She held on for a full minute before pulling back. "It's a group date," she reminded her mother. "There are six of us going. And like I told you Kaili and I are just really good friends. We have almost all our classes together. We're just going out for pizza and then to the dance."

"I know." Rachel smiled. "Still, it's a date." She caught her daughter's eye in the mirror. "Are you sure the dance doesn't need any more chaperones?"

Grace chuckled. "You sound like Danno." She gasped softly as her hands flew to her empty earlobes. "I left my earrings in the bathroom. I have to get them" she said as she darted out of the room.

"As a rule, I try not to encourage Daniel's somewhat overprotective and suspicious nature, so I would never ask him this question." Rachel turned to Catherine with a wry smile. "I assume there has been some sort of background check into the driving record of the man who will be acting as chauffeur tonight."

Catherine smiled and nodded in the affirmative.

"I've met Kaili several times and he's a very nice boy," Rachel continued, "but I've never met his father and one can never be too careful."

"I understand completely," Catherine replied. "Kaili's father has a clean driving record. A clean record overall actually."

Rachel turned to Gabby. "Please don't tell Daniel I said this but I actually feel better knowing he's checked."

Gabby grinned. She liked Rachel. She truly did. From the day she moved in with Danny his ex-wife had made it a point to encourage her relationship with Grace. The two women bonded over a shared love of history and old-world art and even had lunch together once every couple of months just to catch up. Gabby felt completely comfortable calling Rachel with any Grace-related issue that came up and Rachel made it a point to let her daughter know she supported Gabby and her decisions 100%. Gabby wished all co-parenting situations could be so successful. "No worries, your secret is safe with me."

"What secret?" Grace asked as she bounded back into the room.

"If I told you, love," Rachel smiled, "It wouldn't be much of a secret, would it?"

* * *

After one final check of hair and the light makeup her parents had agreed to allow Grace headed into the living room where Danny was waiting with Steve and Angie.

She smiled softly as she heard her father's breath catch.

"You look very pretty, Monkey," he sighed.

She blushed. "Thanks."

"I mean you always look very pretty but tonight you look especially pretty," he said as she reached his side.

"I tried on a bunch of different skirts but we all agreed this one was the best one," she explained.

"You would have looked great in anything," Steve assured her.

Grace beamed. "Thanks."

"Before Kaili and his father get here I want to talk to you for a minute." Danny motioned towards the couch.

"Did you want us to step out?" Rachel asked.

"No." Danny waved her off. "In fact, I'd like everyone to hear this." He settled on the couch and Grace sat next to him. He turned towards her and took her hand.

"I am so incredibly proud of you." His eyes shone with sincerity. "You have grown into a very special young lady."

Grace's eyes welled up as her father continued.

"You're the kindest person I've ever known with the possible exception of maybe Nonna and she's got years of practice on you. You're gonna match her in no time."

The others in the room smiled and Grace beamed with pride at the compliment.

"You're smart and you're strong and most importantly you know your own mind. You don't let other people force you into things. You know the difference between right and wrong. You stand up for yourself and your friends and pretty much anyone who can't speak for themselves."

Grace swiped at a tear that was rolling down her cheek.

"I know I've been a tiny bit on edge about the idea of your first date." He grinned, immediately lightening the mood.

"Just a tiny bit?" Grace grinned.

"And I know there have been times I've gone a bit overboard about it during the last few months …"

Catherine cleared her throat and Danny pinned her with a playful glare.

"Okay … maybe it's been years as opposed to months."

Grace chuckled.

"But it's important to me that you understand that all of that … it was about me, not about you."

Grace tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"You are an amazing young woman." Danny smiled. "There is no doubt in my mind that any boy you agree to go out with will meet the high standards you set for yourself. And if for some reason it turns out he doesn't, I know you have a strong enough sense of self-worth to walk away."

"Thanks, Danno," she replied in a voice barely above a whisper.

"You don't need me flashing my badge and acting like a caveman to keep your dates in line. You can handle yourself. And thanks to Uncle Steve and Auntie Catherine," Danny tossed a look to his partner, "I mean that both physically and emotionally."

Grace grinned.

"So, I just want you to know that when I say things about not wanting you to date it has nothing to do with not having faith in you, I have complete faith in you, it has to do with me coming to terms with the fact that my little girl is growing up."

Grace kissed his cheek. "And I always know that if something does go wrong and I need you you're only a phone call away."

"Always and forever," Danny promised.

Grace swiped at her eyes. "I can't believe you finally agreed to let me wear some mascara and I'm gonna cry it all off."

"It's waterproof," Rachel said around the lump in her throat. "No worries."

Catherine blinked back her own tears and whispered to Steve, "At this moment I'm kinda glad mine is too."

* * *

Kaili arrived exactly on time, took a deep breath, then rang the doorbell. His father hung back slightly. He handed Grace a small bouquet of wildflowers which Gabby immediately went to the kitchen and found a vase for.

Kaili introduced his father to Danny, Rachel and Gabby then Grace handled the introduction of Steve, Catherine and Angie.

After a few minutes of small talk and a round of picture taking Kaili and Grace headed for the car. Kaili's father hung back for a minute exchanging cell phone numbers with Danny and Rachel in case either of them wanted to get ahold of him.

As he made his way back towards the car Danny closed the door and dropped an arm across Rachel's shoulders. "There she goes," he sighed.

"It's the first of many dates she'll have," Rachel smiled. "They'll get easier."

Danny shook his head. "I doubt it."

"We may not have been right for each other but we did a pretty great job raising our daughter if I do say so myself." Rachel smiled proudly.

"We're gonna order pizza," Danny said. "You're welcome to stay."

"Thanks for the offer but I really need to get home." Rachel picked up her purse. "Grace said she'd call me when she gets home to relay all the details."

"I'm sure she will," Danny nodded.

"I just need one more look at this adorable baby." Rachel crossed to Steve who was holding a perfectly content and wide-awake Angie. "Good night, you little angel." She ran her hand down the infant's soft cheek then looked up with a smile. "Goodbye, everyone. Enjoy your pizza."

* * *

"All that stuff you said to Gracie earlier was pretty great," Steve said to his partner as they cleaned up the pizza dishes while Catherine showed Gabby the latest pictures of Angie taken during tummy time.

"I meant it," Danny responded emphatically. "I may have a few issues with the idea of Grace dating … "

Steve snorted. "A few?"

"Yes, Steven, a few. But not one of them has anything to do with me not trusting Grace or her judgment. It's about me having been a teenage boy once. Even when they're being respectful and polite there are hormones raging right under the surface."

"Grace can handle it," Steve said confidently. "Besides, this is like a date with training wheels," he offered in a sincere attempt to be supportive. "Kaili's dad will be there and they're going in a group. You don't have to worry about solo car dates for … another few weeks," he teased.

"Yuk it up." Danny placed the leftover pizza in the refrigerator. "Your time will be here before you know it. I'll just bide my time. Because as you know your daughter looks an awful lot your wife which means the little wanna be navy men will be coming around early."

Steve's face grew unexpectedly serious. "And when they do I hope I'll handle it as well as you handle things with Gracie."

"You will," Danny said around the lump in his throat. "And if you start to get off course I'll be there every step of the way."

 **THE END**

* * *

 _Find all_ _our REAL World_ _ **stories**_ _in 'chronological order on_ _ **our website:**_ _marirealmcroll dot wixsite dot com backslash real-mcroll_

 _If you are not on the REALMcRoll email list and would like to be, drop us an email at realmcroll at yahoo dot com with "Add me, please!" in the subject line. You'll get updates, contests, and fun McRoller games._

 _Looking for links to all the REAL World McRoll stories in one place? Check out our Tumblr page mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com._

 _In addition, one of our AWESOME REAL Worlders, katydid13, has created a community on here on fanfiction dot net that brings all of the REAL World stories, and all of Mari, Sammy & Ilna's pre-universe stories in __one place. You can find it at_

 _community/McRoll-in-the-Real-World_


End file.
